December 01, 2023
Neon pink whare a warm embrace
A full-size neon pink, crocheted wharenui, will go on display at Hamilton’s Waikato Museum from this Friday – completing three years of dedicated mahi by a Māori husband-and-wife team.
Artists Lissy Robinson-Cole and Rudi Robinson, created the wharenui – called Harikoa – from 5000 balls of multi-coloured wool, and inserted aluminium rods and polycarbonate sheets, to support the structure.
Lissy Robinson-Cole says parts of the wharenui have been on display already, as well as on social media – but its true impact has had to wait until its completion.
“I didn’t realise to the degree that it would resonate with people. I just had a sense myself that this would be like a warm embrace, that it would be safe, that it would be joyful – and that it would be neon pink. I knew one hundred percent that it was going to be neon pink,” she says..
Lissy Robinson-Cole says the inspiration for the crocheted wharenui came from the many nannies who once regularly crocheted blankets and clothing for their whanau.